We now can stop with all the PSU bubble talk

February 10, 2011 - Cory Giger

The Nittany Lions aren’t going to the NCAA?Tournament, not unless they pull off a miracle and win the Big Ten tourney.

Thursday’s loss to struggling Michigan State dropped the Lions to 12-11 overall and 5-7 in the league with six games left, and their RPI of 69 now will drop even further.

PSU needs to go 5-1 for a 10-8 league mark, and that’s not going to happen with a game left against?No. 1 Ohio State, two against Minnesota and a road trip to Wisconsin.

At this point, the more realistic goal is finishing 3-3, then going 1-1 in the conference tourney for a 16-15 record that should be enough for an?NIT berth. It would be a major embarrassment for the Lions to fail to qualify for the NIT with four seniors starting.

Still, an NIT bid simply isn’t good enough when you have arguably the best player in program history in Talor Battle.

The Lions teased us with a good midseason run, but being better than expected for a while won’t cut it. There’s no reason to believe this program is going in the right direction.